Over the past few years I have become increasingly interested in cities and urban/transportation planning; reading Jane Jacobs and following several urbanist blogs has nurtured an passion that seems like the most obvious avenue to follow in choosing a concentration topic. Within this admittedly broad subject, I am particularly interested in street design and the political economy of transportation. I find information on how transportation and street use are altered by both political and cultural forces fascinating, and I look forward greatly to exploring the historical and geographical contexts of these changes. I am pretty undecided in terms of how to situate this topic; while I generally know the most about the American urban landscape, and would like to deepen this knowledge, I am also attracted to the idea of broadening my scope geographically. Additionally, I think a comparative situation could yield fruitful results on this topic, especially considering how vastly the urban built environment can and has varied. A nuanced treatment of similarities and differences across spatial dimensions seems like it could be the best way to learn about each of those spaces.